26/11
I went to Juilliard
Narrative
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an insufferable family who have moved into their home, and hire a malevolent spirit to chase them away. This is Michael Keaton’s favorite movie. Otho’s shoes, when he’s painting the walls of the house, change from fire engine red elf shoes to white sneakers as he walks through the bathroom, and then back to red elf shoes as he enters the next room. Adam: What are your qualifications? Beetlejuice: Oh. Well… I graduated from Harvard Business School.
I travel a lot
I lived through the Black Death and had a great time during that time. I’ve seen THE EXORCIST ABOUT ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT GETS FUNNIER AND FUNNIER EVERY TIME I SEE IT… NOT TO MENTION YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEAD MAN… NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK? You think I’m qualified? The Geffen company logo is accompanied by a macabre version of the song Banana Boat (sung by the film’s composer Danny Elfman). A work copy of the film has surfaced with a few added/alternate scenes.
Instead of a desert, he sees an empty darkness filled with moving cogs
This version of the film is about 2 minutes shorter than the theatrical version, has a few added scenes and is missing others, is in black and white, and has a timecode at the bottom. This version has 4 major differences: Alternate Scene: The scene where Adam tries to leave the house after he and his wife die is different. English:Additional Scenes: There is an additional scene where Lydia develops the photos she took of Adam and Barbra. Then, after her mother yells at her and scolds her for cutting holes in her sheets, Lydia goes upstairs and tries to convince her father that the photos are real. There is more in the scene where the adults are searching the attic for ghosts where we see the desert monster trying to eat Adam and Barbra as they hang out of the attic window. Finally, there is an additional 2-minute scene at the end where we see Lydia riding her bike home from school and her parents talking to Jane on the phone about not wanting to sell the house. Lydia’s dance scene is shorter in this version, and there is no scene with Beetlejuice in the waiting room.
Edited into Terror Toons (2002)
The film ends with a final exterior shot of the house. Day-OTraditional, lyrics by William A. Attaway and Irving Burgie [Miscredited as written by William A. Attaway and [Irving Burgie (as Lord Burgess)]Performed by Harry BelafonteCourtesy of RCA Records. Seeing this film one last time on television yesterday reminded me of the first time I saw it years ago in theaters, when Tim Burton was just the director of that weird Pee-wee Herman movie. Walking into “Beetlejuice” back then, knowing nothing about it, was an incredible experience. Like “Blade Runner,” “Blue Velvet,” “Videodrome,” “Brazil,” “Paris, Texas,” “Terminator,” and “Repo Man,” it’s one of the most amazing and memorable films of the 1980s, an era dominated by Hollywood junk like “Flashdance,” “Top Gun,” and “Footloose.” The whole Bruckheimer/Simpson/Spielberg/Hughes zeitgeist that devalued popular films like never before.
Everything about it is perfect
Movies like “Beetlejuice” were a beacon of hope in a truly horrible time. The big question is: how does it hold up today? The answer is better than ever! In fact, I would say that “Beetlejuice” is Tim Burton’s most successful and least compromised film. A terrific cast led by the very appealing and likeable Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the recently deceased Maitlands, a top-notch performance by Michael Keaton as the gonzo “bio-exorcist” main character, and strong support from Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara and especially Winona Ryder (a performance that really put her on the map) as the new occupants of the Maitlands’ house.